Fred's Old Guy Stuff

Old Guy Humor

2011-11-29T09:25:00.001-08:00

My mother-in-law sent this to me today... Made me laugh so here it is... Some new old guy humor. Thanks Andee. ;-)

A good laugh for peoplein the over 50 group and perhaps their kids too !!!

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos,pictures and communicates with Facebook andTwitter. I signed up under duress for Twitterand Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses,13 grandkids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modernway. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140characters of space.

That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter,Tweetree, Twhirl,Twitterfon, Tweetieand Twittererific Tweetdeck,Twitpix and something that sends every messageto my cell phone and every other program within the textingworld.

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything exceptthe bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live likethis. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost everynow and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a boxunder my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to usewhen I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone inthe nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to useit, and I got a little loud.

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside thatgadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time.Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say,"Re-calc-u-lating." You would think that she couldbe nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with adeep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made aright turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship.
When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the crossstreets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPSlady, at least she loves me.

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4years, but I still haven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at onceand have run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and thedirty laundry baskets when the phone rings.

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time Igo to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on somethingthemselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check outjust knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoidlooking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me.

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" Ijust say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stareat me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, "No, but I do toot a lot.."

P.S. I know some of youare not over 50. I sent it to you to allow you to forward it to those whoare.
We senior citizens don'tneed anymore gadgets. The tv remote andthe garage door remote are about all we can handle.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Hope

2011-10-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile an article comes along and just makes you feel better... This is one of those articles. Have a read, I enjoyed it. You may like it too.

Hope in Photography

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Bodie State Historic Park

2011-10-07T07:28:00.001-07:00

Along with all the mining apparitions, we visit here once in awhile. It's a great place for a walk about and it's very interesting. The self guided tour map is available for purchase and it's quite good. An authentic old west ghost town, it is chocked full of history and interesting artifacts to view, photograph and just enjoy. If you go, be absolutely sure to visit the museum. It's a fascinating place to see a wealth of artifacts from a historic California gold mining town.

Bodie Color Panorama Poster by FloralbyFred
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What's new?

2011-10-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have officially retired from my position with the City of Riverside. The shift work was really getting to me again and my body couldn't stand up to it. At any rate, I'll be posting again from time to time now. I'm slowly getting things sorted out and I need to figure out what to occupy my time with. I need to find some part time work... I know it's a horrible time to look. I have a couple of options that may pan out. More on those later.

For now, I'm working on my Zazzle store:
Nature and floral images by Fred

And my store's blog:
Florals by Fred Blog

Please have a visit and let me know what you think. I'm hoping to make some sales soon.

Sadly, my flyfishing addiction has somewhat been on hold lately. I am planning on getting out next week to toss a fly around on some local waters. I REALLY need to do this. I'm also planning on taking some time to start tying flies again. I have been absent from the bench since summer... way too long. Talk to me folks! I have an open calendar now and need direction, lol.

Thanks and until next time,
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties!

Old Guys Rule!!!!

Silly Bumpersticker

2011-08-08T18:38:00.001-07:00

Riff Rafters Bumper Sticker by FloralbyFred
See more 020 Bumper Stickers

I designed this for some of my Ham Radio friends... hope they like it. ;-)

2D Photography Rube Goldberg

2011-07-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Updates

2011-05-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

I have been incredibly busy lately between work family obligations and setting up the Nature and floral images by Fred Zazzle store. Not much is really changed except I have picked a date for retirement. As of this week it's going to be September 29 2011. Then things should start moving even faster! Wahooooooo... Until next time,

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Nature and floral images by Fred: Home: Zazzle.com Store

2011-04-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

Nature and floral images by Fred: Home: Zazzle.com Store

Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay 2011

2011-04-11T13:10:00.001-07:00

Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay 2011, a set on Flickr.

The whole set will end up here.

Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay 2010 Communication Support

2011-04-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

HR607 Spetrum reallocation and sell-off.

2011-03-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Every Amateur radio enthusiast and anyone who benefits from it's use should be concerned about this. Please watch this short video and respond as you feel you should. Thanks

For more information and to view this video on ARRL's website, click here.

Tsunami Damage near Ishinomaki, Japan

2011-03-15T08:23:00.001-07:00

Tsunami Damage near Ishinomaki, Japan, originally uploaded by NASA Goddard Photo and Video.

Bottoms Up: A Toast to Colon Cancer Awareness

2011-03-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

Fakebook er I mean facebook

2011-02-28T12:28:00.001-08:00

How many of my friends are on facebook? Well, according to facebook, I have 91 friends. I had no idea there were that many people that are willing to speak to me let alone look at the inane ramblings of an Old Guy. As it turns out, there are 7 people that follow this blog from facebook. Funny... 7 people including myself... Of course my family reads this thing when I post something once in a blue moon. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way complaining or suggesting nobody likes me. I don't even like the taste of worms. I digress...

Facebook seems like a good idea at first. Keeping up with old acquaintances, renewing old friendships and the like. I wonder how many of us actually do that? You get to looking around find other things to do like games and causes to get involved with. I even tried something called Farmville. The idea is to cooperatively build up a farm and play at making it the best farm possible. I expanded rather rapidly and was finding that I had to work at it. Getting notices that I needed to do things, planning out what time I had to be home to get on facebook to harvest, plow and plant. Oh, and don't forget helping out your neighbors. I also began having trouble with the interface then so I decided to quit playing. Some find that to be relaxing and fun... I don't. To those that were my neighbors, I'm sorry but, I have a job already.

The causes run the gamut from A to Z. I saw some that I agreed with then became bombarded with requests... I got rid of most of those too. I've discovered that it just doesn't pay to "like" anything but what my 91 friends say when they actually say something. OH well....

Then there's the ranting as folks try to either make a point, comment about a recent event or share an opinion. I also don't like when someone tries to convince me that their particular political views are the only reasonable sane views there are... An honest debate is ok but, ranting about it and using abusive speech just makes them look like an idiot. All I can say I guess is, just get over it! They are not the at the center of the universe and they won't change my mind. I also discovered something during one of these exchanges. I'm offended when someone has the preconceived notion that I hate groups of people just because I disagree with what they are or, what they do or, what they say. This is simply not the case. I get it that racial discrimination is bad, I also I really do understand how and why people do what they do unless they physically or emotionally hurt others. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. Life is way too short.

I'm off my soapbox now... facebook has numerous security and privacy concerns with new ones coming up all the time. Bottom line: be careful! You have the power to say no... usually. Facebook's security flaws and weird policies aside, It's a lot of fun under the right circumstances. As long as you are careful about online security, courteous to those you interact with and spend a reasonable amount of time on facebook, I think it's a good thing. I always appreciate someone's comments, suggestions and interaction. After all, we call each other friends don't we?

Peanuts- Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

2010-12-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

Retirement Planning

2010-09-16T12:36:00.001-07:00

Today's entry is from a friend, Dan... Thanks Dan!

He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life, that is, until the ship sank. He soon found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.

After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to the shore. In disbelief, he asks, "Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

She replies, "I rowed over from the other side of the island where I landed when my cruise ship sank."

"Amazing," he notes. "You were really lucky to have a row boat wash up with you."

"Oh, this thing?" explains the woman. "I made the boat out of some raw material I found on the island. The oars were whittled
from gum tree branches. I wove the bottom from palm tree branches, and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree."

"But, where did you get the tools?"

"Oh, that was no problem," replied the woman. "On the south side of the island, a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed. I found that if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into ductile iron
I used that to make tools and used the tools to make the hardware."

The guy is stunned.

"Let's row over to my place," she says. So, after a short time of rowing, she soon docks the boat at a small wharf. As the man looks to shore, he nearly falls off the boat. Before him is a long stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead,
dumb struck. As they walk into the house, she says casually, "It's not much, but I call it home. Sit down, please."

"Would you like a drink?"

"No! No thank you," the man blurts out, still dazed. "I can't take another drop of coconut juice."

"It's not coconut juice," winks the woman. "I have a still. How would you like a Pina Colada?"

Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down on her couch to talk. After they exchange their individual survival stories, the woman announces, "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There's a razor in the bathroom cabinet upstairs."

No longer questioning anything, the man goes upstairs into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet is a razor made from a piece of tortoise bone. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened on to its end inside a swivel mechanism.

This woman is amazing," he muses. "What's next?" When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but some small flowers on tiny vines, each strategically positioned, she smelled faintly of gardenias. She then beckons for him to sit down next to her.

"Tell me," she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, "We've both been out here for many months. You must have been lonely. There's something I'm certain you feel like doing right now, something you've been
longing for, right?" She stares into his eyes.

He can't believe what he's hearing. "You mean..." he swallows excitedly as tears start to form in his eyes, "You've built a Golf Course?"

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!

Old Guys Rule!!!

32 Basic Truths For Mature Humans

2010-09-13T11:49:00.001-07:00

I have to say thanks to Tammy's Mom for this entry, it's funny.... At least to those of us that are how to say it delicately... aging?

1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Glenn Beck: America Revealed

2010-08-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

I know Glenn Beck is a controversial figure in news media. Whatever you may think of him, sometimes he makes sense. I ask you to watch this series of videos. Unfortunately, I don't have links to the entire series but, there is a lot of information included in these three. The videos have the first half of his program but not the last. I don't necessarily endorse his views but, they make me think. That's a good thing! Leave comments if you like, all I ask is that you please engage respectfully. Rude and or obnoxious comments will be deleted.

Beck: Divine Providence vs. Manifest Destiny

Beck: From Servitude to Slavery

Beck: Segregation in the 20th Century

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me Hearties.......

Old Guys Rule!!!!

Ray Stevens - Come to the USA

2010-08-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me Hearties!

OLD Guys Rule!

The San Bernardino Mountain Range

2010-08-04T11:09:00.001-07:00

I have not posted anything recently so I thought I'd share these photos with you. The somewhat maligned local mountain area has some beautiful places to visit. I will add to this photo set as I take pictures from the local area and I will add all the images that I already have from there in the next few days. Please have a look to see what the area has to offer.

As always,
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!

Old Guys Still Rule!

The 2010 Fishing Expedition

2010-07-07T20:44:00.001-07:00

These are pictures from my recent trip to Mammoth Lakes and Fall River Mills in Northern California. Please check back since I'll be adding to the set for the next couple of weeks.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!!!!!!!!

Old Guys Rule!!!

Around the Hood...

2010-06-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

Enjoy some photos from around my neighborhood.

San Diego For Our 28th Anniversary!

2010-05-30T08:26:00.001-07:00

Boy, we had a fun time. Here's the photoset that I'll be adding to over the next week or so.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Mother's Day Orchid

2010-05-18T13:06:00.001-07:00

We had a fine time celebrating Mother's Day and, Joe's birthday a couple weeks ago. A good part of the family was here. We got to Skype with Melissa and her family and Alicia and her family. At the same time too! At any rate, this Orchid was a gift from my dad to Tammy in honor of Mom's Day. Take a look at the whole set on my flickr. Hope you all had a nice Mom's Day too!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!

Old Guys Rule!!!

W6LAR Repeater

2010-05-17T10:15:00.001-07:00

Here's a video I made the other day for a friend. It's a walk trhough of his local repeater system.

More?

2010-05-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

Funny thing about bees.... I always want to shoot more of them. These are the last day's worth of efforts. Hope you like them.

Care to sneeze now? I did!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!

Old Guys Rule!

Bees

2010-05-05T10:01:00.001-07:00

Bees are fascinating creatures. I watch them on our lemon tree and other blooming flowers in our yard. I'm not going into a treatise on the common honey bee but, more information can be found HERE. Please read the article linked on the sidebar of that page titled, "The Vanishing."
My interest is more in the images I can capture. Here are a few-

What I usually see, the famous "Bee Moon."

Ever hear the phrase "Busy as a bee?" I don't think I could ever be that busy...

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Self Portraits

2010-04-27T10:59:00.001-07:00

Things at work have got me down today so I took these as a way to help evaluate myself or as therapy if you will. A good thing to do from time to time. In no particular order, here they are:

I'm in a rather pensive mood.

More relaxed now so, I guess it's helping.

The pathfinder look?

BW version

What I like to call the Alfred Hitchcock Profile.

What do you think? Any good?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties....

Old Guys Rule!

Old Farts

2010-04-26T07:30:00.001-07:00

I'm passing this on as I did not want to be the only old fart receiving it.

Actually, it's not a bad thing to be called, as you will see. Old Farts are easy to spot at sporting events;
during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Old Farts remove their caps and stand at attention and sing without embarrassment.
They know the words and believe in them.

Old Farts remember World War II, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy and Hitler.
They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War, The Cold War, the Jet Age and the Moon Landing.
They remember the 50 plus Peacekeeping Missions from 1945 to 2005, not to mention Vietnam.

If you bump into an Old Fart on the sidewalk he will apologize.
If you pass an Old Fart on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to a lady.
Old Farts trust strangers and are courtly to women.

Old Farts hold the door for the next person and always,
when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside for protection.
Old Farts get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children
and they don't like any filth or dirty language on TV or in movies.

Old Farts have moral courage and personal integrity.
They seldom brag unless it's about their children or grandchildren.

It's the Old Farts who know our great country is protected, not by politicians,
but by the young men and women in the military serving their country.

This country needs Old Farts with their work ethic, sense of responsibility,
pride in their country and decent values..

We need them now more than ever.

Thank God for Old Farts!

Pass this on to all the Old Farts you know.

I was taught to respect my elders. It's just getting harder to find them.

Click on the picture to see it full size. But beware, it's not for the easily offended or feint of heart.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR   me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Baker to Vegas

2010-04-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

What an experience I had this weekend. I had the privilege to formally shoot the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay for a local communications group, K6CSS. I left for Pahrump NV Friday afternoon. At 0 dark thirty Saturday AM, I got up and along with the videographer, Chuck, drove back to Baker, CA where the race began. We shot the setup, start, all over the place that day and into the night. We got to sleep around 2200 Saturday night. At 0 dark hundred, we arose yet again to drive to lost wages to shoot the finish. What a cool experience it was. Here are the images in no particular order:

Here is myself and Chuck:

From Baker to Vegas 2010

I am humbly yours... ARRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Exciting News!

2010-03-22T13:39:00.001-07:00

The Momma Hummer has babies! We noticed that the Momma was not sitting on the nest much during the day and lo and behold, there are some babies! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. Click on the images to see a larger version.

Momma on the nest.

Babies sticking their beaks out of the nest.

Momma getting some much needed nourishment.

Now for those of you who don't believe I can cook, here are some images to kill that notion. Among other things, I can make salsa!

From Kitchen

See the mess I can make?

From Kitchen

See? It's me!

From Kitchen

The finished product

From Kitchen

Tammy likes my salsa. But then, so do I. It was yummy!

Until next time,

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!

Old Guys Rule!!!

Flowers in Cabazon

2010-03-15T15:25:00.001-07:00

Hi All, this weekend Tammy's Dad and Paula visited us. Their dogs or their children as we call them, came along too. It's his birthday this week so, we celebrated his birthday. Long story short, we went out to eat at Lotus garden for Chinese food on Saturday with them> Sara, Matt, Shelley and Steve came along too. We had a pretty good time but, there was an oriental mob there for a baby shower at the same time. The food was good as usual but was a little slow getting out to us. Saturday we went out to the outlet stores since a favorite activity with them is shopping. I was able to get a few decent pictures of some flowers in back of the outlet stores so, I'll leave you with these images. African Daisies, some kind of purple thing and a couple of old smoothies out galivanting around the countryside.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Hummingbirds

2010-03-08T10:12:00.001-08:00

We have something totally cool going on here. A hummingbird has built her nest in the ficus bush right outside our sliding glass door. Talk about fun and exciting. I was able to shoot a few images of the eggs and her sitting on her nest. I'll try to keep these updated. Click on the thumbnails to view the larger images. (It will take you to my Snapixel account.) Enjoy!

Until next time, Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!!!

Old Guys Rule!

Fly Fishing New Zealand

2010-03-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

My fly fishing friend Ron sent this to me today. I thought some of you may enjoy it.

I have got to go fishing in New Zealand.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... me hearties!

Old Guys Still Rule!!!

You're Going to put What? Where!!!??

2010-03-02T16:07:00.001-08:00

I went to the doctor today. That in and of itself isn't unusual but, I had the dreaded over 50 year old colonoscopy done. The procedure itself wasn't too bad but, the preparation was horrible. The doctor gave me a prescription for this stuff called PEG 3350 and electrolytes. The idea is to mix this powder with 4 liters of water and drink the solution the night before the procedure. The prep sheet they gave me laughably calls it GoLytely prep. The official name for the procedure is a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. Funny name... wonder who Sigmoid was.

Well the first hurdle was to drink 4 liters of stuff that tastes an awful lot like sweat every 15- 20 minutes until it's all gone. The doctor told me to mix some crystal light with it to help the taste. Well, we did that. It made the concoction taste like lemon flavored sweat. The doctor thought that was funny. Thanks Doctor...
Well, I made it through 2 thirds of this stuff when I felt my bowels twisting around like a gator latched onto a dead chicken. The rumbling started before the real fireworks did. Kind of like the way an earthquake rumbles in the distance before the house shakes? Well that's what happened and boy did the toilet bowl shake! For one reason or another I have had bouts of shall we say... loose stools before. That doesn't even come close to describing the following 2 and a half hours of reverse Mount Vesuvius volcanic like eruptions from my bum. It's a good thing the bowl is bolted to the floor. I would not want to be responsible for the resulting melee had it not. Well, the eruptions finally subsided and I cleaned up the bathroom to keep from grossing my dearly beloved spouse out. I had no idea that would happen. Whew! I took a shower and went to bed not knowing what lie ahead for the night. Thankfully, the night passed- pun intended- without so much as a little hiss or gurgle. The next morning had only a few short relapses of the hugely successful galloping trots.

At 09:30 the next day I was scheduled to have the procedure done. I waited for a little while reading the newspaper in the waiting area. The nurse finally showed me into what she said was my own private bathroom. I was instructed to remove my shoes, pants and underwear then put a hospital gown over my shirt. She then showed me the torture table where I was to be subjected to humiliation and indescribable ritualistic trauma. When I was properly attired I was to climb up the stairs yes, stairs to the table and arrange myself to be able to watch the TV monitor which would show myself and the watching world my colon in full living color. As I timidly removed my clothing I couldn't help but to recall how humiliating and painful it was to have a catheter inserted into my manhood last year. Pushing all my great fears aside, I put the gown on and climbed the gallows stairs to lay on the torture table.

The doctor and nurse entered the room. This is where it gets a little embarrassing. The doctor told me to lay on my left side and bring my knees up toward my chest. He then stuck his finger in my posterior with an anesthetic to numb the opening. I'm glad he did. After a minute, he put the camera in and began the process of shoving 1,000 feet of Flexible Sigmoidoscope up my butt. All while I watched the incredible journey on widescreen HDTV. It even had dolby digital surround sound. The gurgly sucking noises the machine made are now permanently etched into my brain. The really weird part was how I could feel the tube going in one end and flopping around inside my left side. I told the doctor I felt it and he said one of these days he was going to turn the lights in the room off so the patients can see the light of the scope under their skin. I laughed then he said he'd probably do that on his last day working for Beaver. I told him he was going to go out in a flash. He liked that idea. Now, I'm sure that they have seen it all in that room and the sight of someone's bowels on display doesn't even cause them to bat an eye anymore. I have to say however, the topic of conversation can be a bit strange to the uninitiated. He was chatting with the nurse about of all things some brownies his wife had baked that morning for her class and how the dog had eaten some of them. I was amused too but the story was rather strange, brownies while digging around in my derriere. Yuck... He finally reached the end of the 20,000 feet of scope and began pulling it back out. Actually he said something about a wimp when I complained about the scope hitting the back of my teeth. I didn't mind the tapping so much but, the light shining between my teeth made the TV hard to see. Then he began the process of removing the Flexible Sigmoidoscope. The removal went off without a hitch, thank God, I began to wonder what would happen if the thing somehow became permanently knotted up or undone inside my large intestine. Where would they enter my body to get it out? The things one thinks of while being scoped in the Beaver House of Horrors. After he said to have a good day, I climbed down the stairs from the torture table and went into my own private bathroom.

This is where it gets really embarrassing. One thing they don't tell you about is the amount of gas your going to have when it's all said and done. Now we've all heard the old boat whistles in old movies or, the diesel truck horns on the highway? Well let me tell you, I could have played the Battle Hymn of the Republic in three languages! Then got through the 1812 Overture finale IN RUSSIAN without missing a beat! The really embarrassing part was I could hear people talking next door and, I KNOW they could hear me. The sound of the escaping gas reverberated with all the timidness and effrontery of a nuclear blast over White Sands New Mexico. I'm sure the bowls they installed are of industrial strength quality. Otherwise, I would have been spending the rest of my day in the emergency room trying to explain to an ER tech who is hysterically laughing his donkey off what happened. I spent probably 20 minutes on the pot at the clinic before I was confident enough to put my underwear and pants back on. All this time I could just imagine the comments that were whispered next door. "Oh! How disgusting!"and "I hope he cleans up after himself."

I showed up a wide eyed and fresh faced young... well ok, old guy. I left a sullen shell of my former self that was afraid to fart for fear of repeating the former evening's entertainment. I called Tammy and went to Burger Town for a sausage and egg burrito. That was my treat for being a good boy. The gas attack has tapered off some. Tammy is grateful for that but, I'm still hearing sounds in my gut that are reminiscent of a Panzer division roaring through a drain pipe but that should go away soon.

Now for the good news. The doctor said my colon looked normal and we'd get to have the fun all over again in 5 years. The truth is, this procedure was very easy and I would suggest that anyone who is putting it off, don't. The worst part is the prep; the rest is easy. I just wish those Panzer tanks were quieter.

Dave Barry wrote a really funny story about his experience with colonoscopy. Click here to read it.

Now until next time I am truly your humble servant....
....ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!

Yep, Old Guys Still Rule!!!

I Just Had To...

2010-02-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Big Happenings In The Family

2010-02-22T06:23:00.001-08:00

I have been somewhat remiss in keeping this somewhat up to date. A lot has happened in the last month's time. Most notably, Sara and Matt got married, she is now Mrs. Matt Vander Wall. They more or less had a planned elopement, getting married at a courthouse in Orange County. They then went on a honeymoon trip to Tahoe and had a grand time. We don't know why they eloped but, we're glad they are hitched. Sara has married into a very nice family with lots of local support structure. Matt is a really nice young man with a BA in English.

This last Saturday was an open house for Sara and matt at their new apartment. We got to mingle with them and their college friends. Here are a few photos of the event.

Sara in her kitchen

From Sara Matt Open House

A contemplative Matt

From Sara Matt Open House

L to R- Ben, Matt's younger brother, Allison his younger sister, Matt, Kristy his older sister and Jason, Kristy's boyfriend. They were all quite charming to be around.

From Sara Matt Open House

My favorite part, the food.

From Sara Matt Open House

This is Madeline, I think she is a cousin to Matt. Sara, please correct me if I'm wrong.

From Sara Matt Open House

There was a crowd in their apartment.

From Sara Matt Open House

Sara and her Mother.

From Sara Matt Open House

The two mothers Tammy and Jackie having a good time.

From Sara Matt Open House

Matt's dad Eric

From Sara Matt Open House

Your humble correspondent, shiver me timbers, arrrrrrrrrrrr....

From DPS

The evening's entertainment, WII Bowling.... pictured is Sara creating her WII MII.

From Sara Matt Open House

Everyone had a good time I think, sending the new married couple off on a happy and entertaining adventure called life.

The rest of the family is doing well, my Dad has married his girlfriend JoAnn. They are adjusting to life together and seem to be happy. Melissa and Peter are in the midst of potty training Sarah Rose... fun. Mike and Alicia moved into a new bigger and cheaper apartment. Now Kara Rose has her own room... nice.

I'll leave you with a few fun images I have created for your enjoyment.

From DPS

Spring is on the way

From DPS

Until next time...
I am humbly yours... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Favorite Photos of 2009

2010-01-18T12:23:00.001-08:00

As most of you know, I'm an amateur photographer of sorts. Below, I've included for your perusal, 10 of my favorite photos from 2009. I hope you enjoy them. Please let me know if you do.

From DPS

From DPS Christmas

From DPS

The last 3 are my absolute faves.... Such little treasures they are. Thanks for looking and as always, I am humbly yours.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!

Old Guys Rule!

What a week!

2010-01-04T14:06:00.001-08:00

Last week we had 7 adults, 1 toddler and 2 babies crammed in our house. Wow! What a week it was too. Every family group had at least one sick person to boot. It was a blessing to see all the kids and spend time with them. I had a blast playing Wii with the guys and I think we had a bowling tournament each night. Wii style of course. We ran them to the airport on Friday to catch their flights. Tammy was a little weepy and I had a heavy heart. What a traumatic thing to send them away but oh what a relief to have the house back too. Sara is moving out for good next Saturday so, we'll once again be empty nesters. These two old smoothies can't wait! Here's a few pics from last week.

From DPS Christmas

Until Next time, I humbly yours....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!

and remember...

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-14T12:15:00.001-08:00

To all my friends and family, I wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. We went to the YVARC Christmas party yesterday, that was a lot of fun. We got to see a few friends we haven't seen for ages. Here's a few pictures from the event of people you may know.

From YVARC Christmas Party 2009

Mom and her friend, Janet.

From YVARC Christmas Party 2009

My friend Jason, received a certificate for running the weekly net and for chairing field day. He's also married to Janet.

From YVARC Christmas Party 2009

My friend Larry who is the trustee for the W6LAR repeater. He received a certificate for maintaining the afore mentioned repeater.

Alicia and Mike had to put their dog Isabel down this weekend. She'd begun having seizures awhile back We don't know what caused them but they were getting worse. My heart goes out to them, I know how hard that is to do.

Melissa and Peter are doing great. One exception is the clutch on Pearl, their Hyundai Sonata. It was going to be quite expensive to repair. I don't know what they did with it.

Sara put a deposit on an apartment in Irvine last week. So, it looks like she'll be moving out in January. Plans seem to be on track for her and Matt to get hitched in February. I don't think any of us are invited though, they're planning to elope. Oh well... more on that at a later date.

Our grand kids are growing like weeds. David has the chubbiest cheeks I've seen. Sarah his babbling like a true female now and Kara is as cute as can be. We are SO BLESSED!!!

Here's a few more images for you to enjoy:

From DPS

And as always, I am humbly yours,... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!

From DPS

The Ebb and Flow of?

2009-11-09T10:09:00.001-08:00

My title today is something of a conundrum. The reason is, I don't what to title it. Maybe some of you educated family members can suggest a better title? Not much to update everyone on here. I'm still on graveyard trying to as the brits are fond of saying, keep a stiff upper lip. The grandkids are growing REALLY FAST! Tammy is even more disappointed in her employer than before. She could really use some prayer right now. I hate to see her so dissatisfied with the situation there. Sara is busily sewing away in the other room. I have some PSK, (a Ham radio Mode), on in the background. Solar conditions have markedly improved recently. I have worked stations in Europe and Asia the last week or two. This is a welcome change over the dead airwaves of the last few years. I don't really have much to say today but, here are some recent photos I took of a sunset last week. Enjoy and please let me know how you like them?

From DPS

As always I am your humble "old guy."

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me Hearties!!!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!!!

Life in the death lane

2009-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hi All, two weeks ago I started working graveyard shift again. What a pain in the behind. I feel like I'm drunk all the time without even taking a drop of spirits. At least it's only for 6 months... My tenure as the YVARC Vice President is drawing to a welcome close at the end of the year. Jason Knight, K6DNO will be taking on the mantle of President. Kudos to Dinomiiiiiiite. I'll be taking on at least part of the weekly net duties for the foreseeable future.

Tammy is doing good, her job is getting her down though. Brokers can be such jerks. Big companies like hers can be intolerable. Sara's off visiting her sister Alicia who just had our 3rd grand baby, Kara Rose. WAHOO! Isn't she adorable?

The dogs aren't sure what to think.

I have a couple of pictures of my other two grand kids I'll share with you. Boy I have good-looking grand children!

From DPS

My photography has been sidelined for a little while but, I did manage to put a couple of cool shots together of some pomegranates. Hope you like them.

From DPS

That's it for now, hopefully were all headed for a much brighter obama-less future soon.

Until next time, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Joking Around In Washington

2009-09-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well, we went to Washington to see our brand new Grand Son. What a great trip we had, saw the rest of Melissa's family, did some fishing and generally had some fun. We also helped Peter and Melissa do a few projects around the house. I'll let them tell you about those. Here are a few pictures.

From DPS

And lastly, here's a joke about growing old. Something dear to my heart anymore... LOL.

Someone had to remind me, so I'm reminding you too.. Don't laugh....it is all true...

PERKS OF REACHING 50 OR BEING OVER 60 AND HEADING TOWARDS 70.

01. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
02. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
03. No one expects you to run--anywhere.
04. People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?
05. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
06. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
07. Things you buy now won't wear out.
08. You can eat supper at 4 pm.
09. You can live without sex but not your glasses.
10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
11. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.
13. You sing along with elevator music.
14. Your eyes won't get much worse.
15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.
17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
19. You can't remember who sent you this list.
20. Can't find your car at Wal-Marts.

And you notice these are all in Big Print for your convenience.

Send this to every one you can remember right now!

And REMEMBER, never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Until next time, I am humbly another OLD guy.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties....

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!!!

Where is the time going?

2009-08-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have asked myself that many times but I don't have a good answer. Oh well.... Maybe this will help?

I dunno... Probably not. Time seems to slip away the older we get doesn't it? When I was 20 or even 30, I thought I had all the time in the world to do the things I wanted. Now I don't seem to have the time to do much but work eat and sleep. Yuck! Oh well, vacation is coming in a few weeks. I'll get to visit Melissa, Peter and grandbaby Sarah Rose.

I went fishing At Mammoth a couple weekends ago. Fishing was so so but still had a lot of fun. My friend Jason went along with me. He's never really done much fishing. I believe I have a new convert over to the dark side of fly fishing... LOL. Here's a link to the first picture of the set from the weekend we went. FISHING TRIP Browse through the images. You may find something you like.
Tammy is doing great, she passed her series 66 test. That will make her fully registered and able to do trades etc... for her job. She's worked really hard and I am very proud of her. Sara is visiting her sister in Washington until we come back from there in September. Nice, huh? Alicia has signed up for voluntary lay-off which will get her 5 months of a severance package... I think. She'll be able to spend time with her newborn when the happy event takes place. She finds out in a week and a half if they accept it or not. I'm going to swing shift for three weeks beginning this Sunday. Fun...

Until next time, I am humbly yours.....

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Let the Summer Doldrums Begin!

2009-07-04T18:39:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since my last posting. I don't want anyone to get bored or give up checking but I just didn't feel like posting. Sorry about the long delay. A lot has gone on lately. Last week was the ARRL Field Day. A national event that promotes the hobby of Amateur Radio. Our club went to East Flats which is interestingly enough just east of Barton Flats. It's a primitive camping areawhere there are no fees to camp. You pull up select a spot and set up. No fires, no toilet facilities and no people either. It was a fantastic weekend camping out Friday- Sunday. Great food, good friends and lots of radio fun. We made over 400 contacts operating portable.
Tammy's dad still continues to concern us in that he has had some congestive heart failure issues recently. Somehow he's got his mind set that he's going to die. We're hoping that he will just decide to fight it.
The kids are all great, Melissa is beginning to look BIG. Alicia is growing too. Our grand daughter is growing like a weed. We have a lot of fun skyping with her. That eases the distance somewhat.
Today is July 4th, a good time to reflect on independence and the responsibility that comes along with it. Seems like for some it is just another excuse to drink lots of beer. Oh well... idgets are boorn every day. We went up to see my dad today. He was in a sort of melancholy mood but, he's surviving.
We had to tear out our floor this week. The freezer drain had clogged and slowly ruined the floor under the refridgerater. We decided to go ahead and do a major remodel on the kitchen. New cabinets etc... God help us, it's going to be a lot of work. That's it for now,

Until next time I am humbly yours.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Is It Really May?

2009-05-18T11:16:00.001-07:00

I don't know if I have anything interesting to say this week but, here goes. This year is going by really fast. I guess I'm over the hill now cause I'm picking up speed. What's up with the heat? It's been really hot in So. CA the last few days. It's too early for these hot yucky days. We've already had to run the AC in the afternoon. Usually I wait until mid June or so. I guess I could just suffer in the heat... naaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I hope we can afford to run it this year. I expect SCE to jack the rates up into the stratosphere along with everything and everyone else.

I hear the commander-in-joke made a donkey out of himself yet again. Sigh... I guess they never learn, what did Forest Gump say? Stupid is as stupid does? Or in this case, stupid is as stupid says. I don't know about you but he gives me the creeps. He's Clinton-esque in that same arrogant silver tongued sort of way. Almost too slimy even for a politician. HellOOOoooo, ever hear of Chicago? Gangland's corrupt political system USA? The home of Al Capone?

I had a comment on the last post, first time in... forever I think. Of all things the Pinky and the Brain sound clips gave a few chuckles. Well, I'm glad it did, Laughter is soothing and like chicken soup for the soul. I always did like Pinky and the Brain. "Brain, do you know if I change the P in my name to an O, it's Oinky?" LOL, Ya gotta love it.

We had some frightening news this weekend, Tammy's Dad had a heart attack. He had been complaining of heart burn since the week before. So when Paula haulled him to the Dr, they discovered he had a heart attack. Apparently, the damage is severe enough, they can't risk clearing the blockage yet. That makes him a candidate for a severe attack. I believe they are going to put a defibrulator in to keep his beat normal. Now if he'll just quit smoking. This year has not started well...

Sara is at home and working hard to make a few bucks before she heads off to Washington in August. Alicia finally went back to work. She still has morning sickness but she's learning to cope with it I think. Melissa has a cold, Tammy is doing ok this week. My Dad's life is filled with the drama of dating women again. I think he realizes finally or at least is beginning to realize how different it is nowadays. I don't envy him at all. I'll keep what I've got thank you.

Until next time, I am humbly yours.
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Birdie birdie birdieeeeee

2009-05-05T14:38:00.001-07:00

An intelligent well thought out exchange.

Imagine Pinky of "Pinky and the Brain" fame saying Birdie birdie birdeeeee... Then you'll get the general idea.

Another highly intelligent well thought out exchange. :)

Please let me know if you enjoy these. Otherwise, it's not worth the trouble to keep this up. "Old Guy" stuff is beginning to get well... old.

Until next time,
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Something Old Something New

2009-04-29T02:52:00.001-07:00

Something New

I just looked at the pictures of my Grand daughter, Sarah Rose Ott on her blog. Yes, can you believe it? She's got her own blog. It's administered by her very capable mother, my daughter Melissa. I had to laugh at a couple of the pictures, they were funny in that cute kid like way. One of them though was a crack up. There she was, in full Easter Sunday regalia, hunting for Easter Eggs. That part wasn't funny but it sure is cute. The funny part was where she was sitting in her beautiful Easter dress complete with the white ruffle-butted stockings and white church shoes on. Squarely plopped down in the dirt. She must be related to me. Tammy and I both got a good laugh out of that. I guess she really enjoyed the hunt although I think she enjoyed the goodies that were in the plastic eggs.

Something Old and New

Most of you are aware of my affinity to photography. Lately I have been active in a digital photography forum. Digital Photography School or DPS, an on line community of photo buffs from around the globe. I have recently made friends in Myanmar, Malaysia, the UK and all over the USA. It's pretty cool stuff. I post my photos to the share your shots forum and get comments from all over the world. It's pretty amazing what people like and/or don't like. Take a look at my most recent thread and have a gander at some of the comments. DPS also sports all kinds of instructive and how-to articles on all phases and aspects of photography geared to all levels of photogs from the novice to the professional. There's something there for all.

Something that's just plain old

That would be me and my urinary woes. Thankfully, I have been feeling better and better as the weeks go by. The last 2 weeks I have felt better than I have felt since Christmas. The drainage pipes seem to be slowly getting better at producing the correct amount in the right amount of time. As of the last test, I was infection free. I never in a million years thought something as basic and as simple as being able to pee would bring such joy and pleasure but, it sure does. An Old Guy thing? LOL, you betcha! Beginning 2 weeks ago, in their infinite lack of wisdom my employer saw fit to put me on graveyard shift. So, the 10 or so years i spent on this miserable shift were not enough to acquaint me with how to run things at night. At least in so many words that's what I'm being told. Another Old Guy thing? You betcha! They have younger less experienced people they want to groom for other higher paying positions for the day shift posts. How long? I don't know. It could be anywhere from another 2 weeks to another 4 months. I think it will become longer. With this city it's always longer. One thing that's good about this: none of the idiots that put me here are working at night. Also, when things go awry as they quite often do in a poorly maintained and old facility like this, I get to call them and wake them up! That makes me happy... Jibes from the plant that time forgot.

Until Next Time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

On and on it goes

2009-03-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

I wish sometimes that I could just push the right buttons and everything would be better. Imagine it, push the stop pain button and the pain would just go away. Not just physical pain but emotional pain as well. In the physical realm, I could have saved my mother many years of pain and suffering. In the emotional realm I could saved my father the years of anguish and duress of watching my mother suffer and finally to die. Imagine, no more death no more pain caused by the unthinkable horror of what men do to one another.

I'm afraid I don't have the power to do any of that. As all of you are aware if you know me at all, I have been suffering with my own malady of late. The dreaded urinary problem. I'm nowhere closer to a solution to this than when it put me in the hospital for a week near death from septicemia.

What is a person to do? I have asked myself that question over and over the last few months as I endure this. Have I done something to displease God? I don't think God plays tit-for-tat with anyone. That would mean that I a mere man could somehow make myself more acceptable to God by doing something right. Or make myself less acceptable by doing something wrong. That is simply not the case. I cannot do anything to make myself more or less acceptable to the Almighty. That would mean I have replaced God's providence with my efforts. It's a hopeless state. I believe He's more interested in having a relationship with us. Simply put, Jesus paid it all.

Is my body just old and worn out? No, I'm only 52 for crying out loud. The Apostle Paul had an infirmity he spoke of in II Corinthians 12:

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It's truly a conundrum. When I am weak, I am strong in Christ. Right now I feel helpless and weak. In Jesus though, I'm strong. I may get discouraged and sometimes absorbed in self-pity but, I know who is ultimately in control. I'm glad it isn't me. I could really mess things up. I can see now that through my life, God has orchestrated things to bring me to one inescapable conclusion. He has given all of us a way to have joy and hope. By having faith in the free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

For now I'll keep on keeping on and hope and pray for a recovery from this problem. My bladder feels full so I guess I'll go try again.

Until next time, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE???!!!!!

Relief?

2009-03-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, my post last week was kind of gloomy. I saw the urologist Thursday and he left the catheter in. Yesterday, I saw him again. This time he took it out and shoved a scope up where the drain pipe used to be. He said he saw nothing that should cause the type of problem I was having. Sigh of relief? I guess... I have no idea what happened but at least I don't have anything visibly wrong. Now I'm back to drinking lots of liquids, and keeping a journal in my mind of how the "bathroom session" goes. I have to report back via telephone regularly today to keep the urology department at Beaver Medical Group up to speed on my progress or regress as the case may be. So far, it looks good. I just hope it continues that way.

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE

Eight Days In

2009-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Eight days, 192 hours, 11,520 minutes and 691,200 seconds. You may be asking yourself " Eight days where?" I'm sorry if I lead you astray but, I'm talking about this confounded catheter. Last time I had this thing in, they said it was caused by my prostate gland. I guess that's an " old guy thing." What does the prostate do besides cause old guys problems you may ask? The prostate (from Greek προστάτης - prostates, literally "one who stands before", "protector", "guardian") is a compound tubuloalveolar exocrine gland of the male mammalian reproductive system. See the wikipedia version here.This time has been more painful than last. I don't know why but, at least I get to see the urologist tomorrow. I really hope he takes it out. I'm getting really tired of emptying this little plastic bag out. I have a bunch of questions to ask that guy. I even wrote them all down. So please pray for me, this is starting to bother me. I'm bored out of my mind and looking to the Lord for guidance.- Thanks

Glad this is short? Me too LOL.

Until next time, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearty!!!

OLD GUYS STILL RULE!!!!

Not Again

2009-02-25T09:00:00.001-08:00

As many of you know I lost my Mom to lung cancer a couple of years ago. It was a bittersweet experience. On one hand, I was relieved to finally see her body at rest after years of being racked by the ravages Lupus. It's an insidious disease that causes the body's immune system to go totally wacky and start to attack it's own connective tissues. In a word slow, painful and, terminal in her case. On the other hand, she was my Mom. Her life was cut short by an unseen foe whose only indication of existence is manifest in the harm it does to the victim's body. God gave her grace and sufficient time to see all three of her grandchildren born and fairly well grown up. I believe this gave her a measure of happiness in an otherwise painful existence. My Dad, God bless him, faithfully stayed by her side through the whole 25 years long ordeal to the bitter end. As my Dad and I tearfully watched my Mom slip into eternity, I realized just how much we would miss her presence in our lives. She often spoke of "going home to be with the Lord." I find comfort in the knowledge that she is with Him.

I have since lost 2 close friends and another friend from my home church whom I had great respect and admiration for. Two were fisher-nuts like me, the other an Amateur radio "enthusiast" nay, a nut like myself. I could go on about the friends I lost but that's not the point of this post. Suffice it to say I miss these guys like they were my brothers. In a real sense they were my brothers. Fishing trips and fun times. Radio contacts to share and talking about whatever we wanted to. Most of all, a common deep commitment to loving God and His purposes. In other word, brothers.

Yesterday I had to go back to urgent care and have a catheter inserted to allow me to urinate into a plastic bag. As I sit here typing away in pain, I am finding it hard to find something to be thankful about. I could get down on the fact that the problem I thought was over has come back to haunt me yet again. I could mourn the loss of my Mom and my brothers. Then I think of the terrible mess our Nation is in and I could easily get depressed if I were to dwell on it for very long.

Thank God that I don't have to draw any happiness from the circumstances around me. I am thankful for many things, above all my future is secure. I'm thankful for my relationship with the Almighty, my Wife my Kids, my extended family, my church, my job, and the freedom that allows me to say it. I may lose everything to the altar of obama, war or die from some other malady. Rest assured however, there is a purpose to this life that all will eventually see. Please read this excerpt from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.
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ACQUAINTANCE WITH GRIEF

"A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Isaiah 53:3

We are not acquainted with grief in the way in which Our Lord was acquainted with it; we endure it, we get through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of life we do not reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin. We take a rational view of life and say that a man by controlling his instincts, and by educating himself, can produce a life which will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we go on, we find the presence of something which we have not taken into consideration, viz., sin, and it upsets all our calculations. Sin has made the basis of things wild and not rational. We have to recognize that sin is a fact, not a defect; sin is red-handed mutiny against God. Either God or sin must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue. If sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is no possible ultimate but that. The climax of sin is that it crucified Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will be true in your history and in mine. In our mental outlook we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin as the only explanation as to why Jesus Christ came, and as the explanation of the grief and sorrow in life.

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I have assurance I will see my Mom and my brothers again. They all knew the promise of God's coming kingdom. Do you?

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Update 2/19/09

2009-02-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a few weeks since my last post. I know I know I should have done it sooner... On the UTI front, my strength is nearly back to normal. Thanks in part to staying away from work except for my scheduled days. That said, I did something stupid and split a graveyard shift with another Sr. operator today. I was at work at 3 AM or Oh dark thirty. The net result is I am a little richerand as I write this I am barely awake at 18:30 or 6:30 PM for you non- 24 hour clock types. The diet is going good, I've lost 8 pounds since I came home from the hospital. Not bad eh? So far work hasn't been too bad since I got back. I guess I should just be grateful I'm employed when I look around at the state of the economy.

I've watched in great dismay the recent "SPENDULUS PROGRAM" that was shoved down the throats of Americans everywhere. We shouldn't be surprised however, he's (obama) is doing exactly what he said he would do. He's insulated himself with his favorite liberal lackeys that is, appointees and cabinet members. With the full blind support of Queen Pelosi, Nancy herself, has charted a course for America that at best is unprecedented and at worst is the stepping stones to the Socialist States of America. What I find most reprehensible and unconscionable is the fact that not one congressperson or Senator even read the thing. Oh the SHAME! A black day has come to our beautiful shores. America will not recover easily from this whole unholy package. I fear that in our headlong persuit into the oblivion of wealth redistribution just because we thought we had to "DO" something we've flown right off a deadly precipice. Where is this president taking us? Where is the leadership? Why all the secrecy?

Next post maybe I'll talk about the secret mission that obama has sent 17,000 of our precious military personell into harm's way in Afganistan without even a face-to-face to explain why. One should question why the president starts his own "surge" with no plan in place at all while he staunchly opposed the former president's surge that was well planned and a as it turned out a complete success.

There, I'm off my soapbox now.

I've been watching a lot of Flyfishing programs since I discovered that I now get the Sportsman Channel. I think my favorite is one that focuses on fly fishing National Parks. Although, some of the Canadian shows are a lot of fun too. I'll have to try my hand at Muskie fishing some day...

Tammy is doing well, the kids are great too. Peter and Melissa are getting prepared for child number 2. I think she's due near Labor Day. Mike and Alicia are looking at houses in and near Seabrook. Sara's gearing up for her Senior project and upcoming graduation in May. My how time has flown. My Dad has 4 feet of snow at his house. I feel old now. I'm even starting to look that way too. Almost geezerish...

Until next time....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

UTI? What's That?

2009-01-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

As all of you know, we had a tremendous scare this week. Near death experience? Maybe... you be the judge.

I began having trouble last Saturday while I was at work. I began urinating about every 20 minutes. Not a lot but it felt as if I'd voided enough. Well, this continued through the night up every hour or so in between trying to sleep. Sunday I awoke with a fever and back to the 20 minute routine. BTW, as an aside, I'm watching the Red Green Show. Life is good again. By Monday morning the temperature was still about a 100 degrees. By 11:30 I was shaking uncontrollably with a 103 degree temperature. At this point, I pretty much lost it. I don't remember anything from this point until they got my temperature down in urgent care. Tammy loaded me up in the car and headed off to Beaver urgent care in highland. In retrospect this was probably not the best idea. First, I opened up the car door to get out on the freeway. Then I began to disrobe in the waiting room. They wanted us to go to Banning. When Tammy got really nasty with the staff there, they decided they'd prove that she must be lying. The wonderful triage nurse didn't believe her own thermometer so, after the third different thermometer, she decided I was in critical condition with a temperature of 105.8 and blood pressure was about 70/32.

Now I'm not saying the nurses there are incompetent but, they never were able to get an IV in. After trying 3 times to shove a catheter up my winkie, they gave up, packed me up and shipped me off to the ER at Redlands Community Hospital. One thing they did right was to pack me in ice. Thankfully, the trip to the ER was uneventful. The wait outsidee was a relatively short 40 minutes then they wheeled me in and tossed me into a bed where I remained in the ER for 24 hours. The quality of the nursing staff at the ER was exemplary. They treated me professionally, and with good humor. Something I greatly appreciate. The ER nurse I had the first night was able to put the IV and the catheter in right the first time. When they moved me up to my new home for the rest of the week, things got a lot quieter. Have you ever tried to sleep with a tube in your arm and another in your private parts? Well I'm sure some of you have. Not very pleasant is it? I feel like a human pin cushion, pumped full of drugs etc... Remember the fallacy of dignity? It's like that song, blowing in the wind. LOL, I no longer have any. To make a long story short, I know I know, too late for that. Over time my prostate had enlarged enough to cut off the flow of urine causing a "Urinary Tract Infection" or UTI for short. It's common with women but uncommon with men. The DR. said I had developed septicemia which is f corse very dangerous.

Tammy as always has been a tremendous blessing to me in more ways than I can number. She tirelessly stayed by my side through the worst of the ordeal. Thanks to my Dad and my friend Jason, they came by and visited me... what a nice thing to do. Jason even came by and played dominoes with me one night... fun.

Well, thanks to my doctor and the great nursing staff at RCH, especially Judy and Amber I am on the road to recovery. Near death experience? I suppose if Tammy had taken me to Banning as the people in Highland had suggested, I would no longer be in my current semi-normal condition. You know what though? I have had a great life and I am ready to meet my Savior at any time. I'm not saying I'm ready to throw in the towel, I have a lot of life left to go. I want to see all my grandkids born. To see them grow up would be an even greater blessing. My point is, try to live life as if every day could be your last one. You never know when it could be.

Until next time, I am humbly yours...

ARRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!!

Christmas Blessings

2008-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Well, Tammy has been away for a week on vacation with her sister, Shelley. They went to New York city to see all the wintry Christmassy sites of the Big Apple. They visited Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and The Empire State Building. From the phone conversations it sounds like they've had a really nice time but, she's also ready to come home.

At first having the house to myself was really nice. Then it was very lonely and quiet. I worked a couple of double shifts and got nice and wiped out last week. That killed some time then Sara came home for Christmas break from school. We've had some fun watching our old favorite Christmas movies.

Tammy flies home from NYC this evening so we're headed to San Diego to spend the night then Christmas Eve morning with her Mom and Joe.

Here are a few of my favorite ornament photos:

Here's a thought about Christmas penned by Spurgeon:

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isa_7:14

Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman,” not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,” not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!
Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.

Please have a most blessed and Merry Christmas. Until next time I am humbly yours...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me hearties!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Factor It In!

2008-12-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

The craziness of post election politics is nearly at a fever pitch. With the election of perhaps the most liberal president in US history, the values that most Americans hold dear are under attack an an alarming and relentless rate. One example: The so-called "gay" agenda was dealt a serious blow with California's passage of proposition 8, to define what marriage is in the state constitution. Did our fore-fathers ever imagine we'd have to do that? I doubt it... The reaction from the "rainbow" side has been shall we say loud? Boisterous? Violent? Virulent? The reaction from the "rainbow" camp just proves there is nothing gay about the gay lifestyle. I can understand the upset over losing. I can even understand civil disobedience when the issue justifies it. This isn't the case here. A choice in the way a person uses their body's natural function in unnatural ways should never become the basis of civil liberties of any kind. I don't believe a group's sexual perversions should create a protected class of people. But thanks to our political leaders, we have. The need to combat the political agenda of those who would destroy this great land has never been greater. In this particular case, the people of California have spoken twice now. One man, one woman is how marriage is defined in California.

The erosion of the USA's values has it's roots in the socialist agenda of the far left politicos. It's no secret that many of our country's leaders look to Europe for a social and moral compass. This is a BIG BIG mistake. Please click the link and watch the video below:

Fox News: Amsterdam's Red Light Revamp

I don't always agree with O'Reilly but he makes some very good points about culture war. Believe me, politics is not the answer. History has proved this out time and time again. It will be no different in the USA. The political arena will never do anything to fulfill our deepest needs. Let's face it, we all have baggage. But it goes even deeper than this. In my own life, I came to realize just how deep it went. I realized that we were all created for one purpose. To have a relationship with a Creator that is loving, righteous, holy and truly magnificent. I also realized that I was in no possible way able to do this in my own strength or in my own abilities. There was a dark chasm that separated me from my Creator. The darkness of sin overshadowed anything that I could possibly think, do or expect to accomplish in life. As a young man I knew there had to be something better. I discovered with the help of three different people that I needed a Savior. They did not know each other. I later came to understand that Spirit of God had somehow made our paths cross. They helped me to see that I needed someone to step into my situation and become the bridge across the chasm of sin to reach God, the Creator. Someone to pay the price for the sin I was born into. That person is Jesus Christ. Born of a virgin, crucified, raised from the dead on the third day. By faith I now understand how He who was perfect from birth, He who knew no sin, became sin in His Father's eyes for mankind's sake. I decided by faith to follow the Bible's teaching of salvation and redemption. I now have a relationship with my Creator through Jesus Christ.

I took this step when I was fifteen. Let's see... I'm over fifty and have been a Christian now for over thirty years. The road has not been an easy one and anyone who says it's easy is being somewhat less than truthful. Life has meaning and purpose. The relationships I have with my family has been and continues to be meaningful and full of wonder. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination so please be patient. God isn't finished yet.

Maybe you are wondering if there is something better out there. I don't know what your situation is but, I do know this. God loves you and has always had a plan to be with you. If this is the case, I'd love to hear from you. If not, thanks for reading this far. Please come back to read what I post in the future. The musings of an old guy tend to ramble a bit but they are what I'm all about I guess.

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Coolness

2008-12-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

As often happens in Southern California it gets hot again. We had some nice rain last week then it got into the mid 80's again. Some of you may think this is nice... I guess it is but I like a little cooler weather. I miss living where there are 4 seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. I like that but, The southern half of this state is boringly warm. A cold night here is in the 40's unless you are in the mountains. Oh well, when I don't have to work for the city of riversnot anymore maybe we can move to cooler climes.

Sara went back to Westmont last Monday. Her schoolmate went home the Tuesday before if I remember correctly. Peter and Melissa successfully moved into their home. Now they're in the never-ending process of making it theirs. Painting, repairing etc... all the stuff a renter can't even fathom. Way to go you two... I am really proud of you. Alicia and Mike are plugging along in Texas, they adopted a new mutt named Fritz. I think I probably already told you. It's been nice lately, I put Skype on the puter. Now we can video chat with all the kids. We got to say hi to Sarah Rose, our grandbaby the other night. Now that was way cool.... B-D

Stellar observers will have taken note of the Lunar observations this week. Venus Jupiter and the Moon are the closest they will be in the night sky for the next 40 years. I took a few pix to mark the event. I share them with you for your pleasure:

How it looked from my front yard

How it looked upside down- a frown for the Northern Hemisphere...

Not to be outdone by the people "down under", I "fixed" it with the magic of Photoshop

A thought from "My Utmost For HIS Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CARRIED AWAY FOR HIM?

"She hath wrought a good work on Me." Mark 14:6

If human love does not carry a man beyond himself, it is not love. If love is always discreet, always wise, always sensible and calculating, never carried beyond itself, it is not love at all. It may be affection, it may be warmth of feeling, but it has not the true nature of love in it.

Have I ever been carried away to do something for God not because it was my duty, nor because it was useful, nor because there was anything in it at all beyond the fact that I love Him? Have I ever realized that I can bring to God things which are of value to Him, or am I mooning round the magnitude of His Redemption whilst there are any number of things I might be doing? Not Divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvellous, but ordinary, simple human things which will give evidence to God that I am abandoned to Him? Have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?

There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him the abandoned tokens of how genuinely we do love Him. Abandon to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God. We have to get rid of this notion - "Am I of any use?" and make up our minds that we are not, and we may be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time.

Until Next Time I am Humbly Yours...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Fire Here, Fire There, Fire Fire Everywhere

2008-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Unless you live on the moon, you've seen and or heard about the destruction taking place in California last week and over the weekend. The Tea, Freeway Complex and Sayre fires have and are still currently burning. Sara called us Thursday evening and said there was a big fire and the campus was threatened. Further, all the students had been evacuated to the gym, an in-place safe shelter. Well, Thursday night was not a very restful one to say the least. Along with 4 other girls packed into her car, Sara was allowed to leave the campus on Friday. She dropped off one in Santa Barbara to be picked up by her parents, 2 in Redlands at family members' homes and brought Karina, a native of the U.K., home to our house. The girls were allowed to leave with whatever they were wearing and had grabbed from their dorm rooms when they were forced to flee to the gym the night before. The school lost some buildings and the faculty has suffered some major property losses.

Saturday was Karina's 22nd birthday. Being far from her parents home in San Ramon, there was not much celebration in store for her. Enter the Ziegler clan... It is fun being a part of her "family" for the short term while she's awaiting permission to return back the to school. We had ravioli for dinner the requisite chocolate cake for dessert and even sang happy birthday for her. We then watched the movie of her choice, "The Sound of Music." I'm not usually sentimental but, I do get a little sentimental when I watch this movie. It's not just the music, although most of it is very upbeat and fun, it's the idea that God has a plan for everybody. It's not always apparent but, it can be discovered. Fraulein Maria discovered her calling was not to be a Nun but to be a wife to Captain von Trapp and a step-mother to his children. Intermingled into the story is the beginning of one of the darkest periods in the history of mankind.

A thought from Oswald Chambers' book "My Utmost for His Highest."

Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to "supply all your need" ( Philippians 4:19 ). To read all of this devotional click here.

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

Lack of Sleep Does What? I Forget...

2008-11-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

Good morning gentle readers. It's been 2 weeks since my last post. Don't let the title of this post fool you, I will ramble on about... ah yes, sleep patterns. During the week after my last posting, I began to develop sinus problems. At first I thought I was suffering from allergies. It seems like everyone around me is suffering from the plugged up sensations of fall in the greater San Bernardino/ Riverscum area. Well, the plugged up feeling lead to a severe bout of night time snoring which is not to be confused with day time snoring. You know one is while you sleep at home in your bed, the other is while you sleep while slumped over your desk with hands on the keyboard or mouse or, while in another particularly "exciting" training session on sexual.... harassment or recognizing drug abuse on the job etc...

Wow, it took me a minute to remember that. You know they say the memory is the second thing to go... I wish I could remember what the first thing was. Anyhow, back on the trail, I'm talking about the type of stuff that's about as exciting as watching paint dry or grass grow. So, that excuse is valid as far as I'm concerned. Now, where was I going with this... Oh yeah, I developed a case of night time snoring that could have awaken the dead. I kept myself awake for 2 nights in a row. The second night I moved into the spare bedroom so Tammy could sleep. The next few nights I started taking various over-the-counter drugs to counter act the plugged up can't breathe snorting drooling sweating sensations I was having. Oh, and the sore throat came too so I thought maybe I was coming down with something. I went to the drugstore bought some lozenges and some breathe right strips. I ran the vaporizer, took nyquil, which really doesn't work anymore thanks to all the stupid ignorant selfish jerks that use methamphetamines to get a short-sighted and deadly thrill. I have to sign for the good stuff, just like I'm buying ammunition for my rifles and pistols. Now where was I.... these rabbit trails are getting monotonous aren't they? Bottom line here is, I still think it's allergies. I am using nasal spray, a vaporizer and the breathe right strips, they hold your nose holes open, to sleep. Finally after 2 weeks of fitful at best sleep, I can say I slept pretty well the last 2 nights. There is the other thought though. I don't go back to work until Wednesday... Stress does weird things to a person's psyche and body.

Now for the family update: Tammy is studying very hard to take her series 7 test for work. I think once she gets the test under her belt, she'll probably get her 8 and maybe even the series 9 too. Then she'll probably flush UBS for a better job. YOU GO GIRL!!!! I'm as proud of Tammy as anybody can be. She's also making preparations for a Christmas trip to NYC with her sis.

Melissa and Peter put in an offer for a house and it was accepted! They will be buying their first house. Way to go Melissa and Peter!!!!

Alicia and Mike adopted a male dog named Fritz to keep the effervescent Isabel company. They think he's a collie shepherd mix. I hope they'll send some pictures. They even gave poor old Fritz and Isabel a bath yesterday.

Sara is studying very hard and pining some for her sweetheart Matt who is still in the U.K. She sounded pretty good yesterday when I talked to her. One thing she and I share is a strange affinity to really bad goofy Sci-fi movies. The worse they are the better we like it. The worst and the funniest, what a combo. "Plan 9 From Outer Space" aficionados unite! Character flaw you say? I don't think so... B-)

Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

I took these last week in the backyard. I hope you like them.

Here's a thought for this week from Spurgeon:

“So walk ye in him.”

- Col_2:6

If we have received Christ himself in our inmost hearts, our new life will manifest its intimate acquaintance with him by a walk of faith in him. Walking implies action. Our religion is not to be confined to our closet; we must carry out into practical effect that which we believe. If a man walks in Christ, then he so acts as Christ would act; for Christ being in him, his hope, his love, his joy, his life, he is the reflex of the image of Jesus; and men say of that man, “He is like his Master; he lives like Jesus Christ.” Walking signifies progress. “So walk ye in him”; proceed from grace to grace, run forward until you reach the uttermost degree of knowledge that a man can attain concerning our Beloved. Walking implies continuance. There must be a perpetual abiding in Christ. How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to the world all the day: but this is poor living; we should always be with him, treading in his steps and doing his will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man’s walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call him ours, and anon lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him. We must keep to him, cling to him, never let him go, but live and have our being in him. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him”; persevere in the same way in which ye have begun, and, as at the first Christ Jesus was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let him be the same till life’s end; the same when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and enter into the joy and the rest which remain for the people of God. O Holy Spirit, enable us to obey this heavenly precept.

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Humbly until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Overdue

2008-10-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

I know this is overdue but, since the kids left not much has been happening here. A welcome respite you say? LOL, I agree. The last couple of weeks have been filled with activity but mostly at work. I had to attend 3 days of training to learn about the latest version of our Operations database, an application called OPSSQL. When it's up and running it can make life easier for us but, the City in it's quest for cutting expenses has to let us spend the time necessary to use it to it's fullest extent. Herein lies the problem, most of us are working lots of overtime... I guess it's cheaper than hiring somebody. Lot's of people out there want work but we're kind of a specialized field. Tammy cleaned her sister's house and watched her cats for her while she and her hubby were away playing somewhere. She studied some too I think and spent some time lamenting our grand daughter's departure. I spent a fair amount of time lamenting her departure too.

Tammy's recovering from the emotional roller coaster ride of having the grandbaby close then not then back again then gone for a long time. Probably until we can visit her at Whidbey or on a holiday or something like that. Melissa and Peter are still enroute to their new home town, Alicia is working on building her Sensaria business and Sara is studying while IM'ing her boyfriend Matt who is in England. Ahhhh, life is good in spite of the turmoil in financial, political and world affairs circles.

Well, I need to meet a friend for breakfast this morning so I'll leave you with this thought from Spurgeon:

“It is a faithful saying.”

- 2Ti_2:11

Paul has four of these “faithful sayings.” The first occurs in 1Ti_1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” The next is in 1Ti_4:6, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” The third is in 2Ti_2:12, “It is a faithful saying-If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him”; and the fourth is in Tit_3:3, “This is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.” We may trace a connection between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the foundation of our eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as shown to us in the mission of the great Redeemer. The next affirms the double blessedness which we obtain through this salvation-the blessings of the upper and nether springs-of time and of eternity. The third shows one of the duties to which the chosen people are called; we are ordained to suffer for Christ with the promise that “if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” The last sets forth the active form of Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain good works. Thus we have the root of salvation in free grace; next, the privileges of that salvation in the life which now is, and in that which is to come; and we have also the two great branches of suffering with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with the fruits of the Spirit. Treasure up these faithful sayings. Let them be the guides of our life, our comfort, and our instruction. The apostle of the Gentiles proved them to be faithful, they are faithful still, not one word shall fall to the ground; they are worthy of all acceptation, let us accept them now, and prove their faithfulness. Let these four faithful sayings be written on the four corners of my house.

Until next time.....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Send Off

2008-10-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in every child's life when they should be on their own. For our kids, all but the youngest have flown the nest. However, while Peter was in Kuwait and Africa this past 2 months, Melissa and Sarah Rose lived with us. It was a wonderful time to be around our grandchild. Both Tammy and I became very attached to the little munchkin. She made some real milestones while she was here. She learned to clap, wave hello, goodbye and, she's pulling herself up to a standing position on all kinds of things. Just see the picture to the left... She's also learning to do what all female children do... babble incessantly. It's been a lot of fun.

This weekend we were able to get all of the local SO. CA. family together to send Peter and Melissa off to Peter's new post at Whidbey Island in Puget Sound about 2 hrs. drive time from Seattle. After a nice BBQ at our house, it was a real hoot getting most of them up to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen for a fun time. Of course the star of the show was Sarah Rose... At least 3 or 4 shutters kept clicking wherever she went. This went a long way toward getting my mind off the death of a dear friend. Spending time with my son-in-law Peter was really nice too. Watching the major league baseball playoffs and Victory at Sea is a memory I'll keep for a long time.

We have a housefull this morning with Tammy's sister, her 2 boys and our youngest daughter Sara. Sleeping arrangements were tight but we always manage one way or another. I think Tammy is in the kitchen doing her best to cook up something that will help me get fatter. Peter is behind me typing away to put something on his blog.

This week has been stressful. The death of a close friend is never an easy thing to accept. My faith in the Lord has gone a long way to help me get on with life and having family members that love me close by has been just what the doctor ordered.

Humbly yours until next time...

ARRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Tribute

2008-10-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile one of those people comes along in life that can really have a good influence on you. About 6 years ago I met such a person after talking to him on the local repeater for several months. I decided to join the local radio club and met him at the first meeting I went to. Oh he was human just like the rest of us with foibles and the occasional problem. There was just something about him. Something that could draw you to be his friend. Or at least want to talk to him more. Maybe it was his outgoing personality or his uncanny ability to remember almost anything, I'm not sure exactly what it was. One of the things I liked about him was his personableness. The ability to put a person at ease with a kind word like "You Rock!" The distinctive presence on the local repeater that seemed to almost always be there night or day. The charismatic voice that kind of grew on you.

As I got to know him we learned a lot about each others' likes and dislikes. He hated beef stew while I loved it. He liked the Dodgers... well, I do too. Actually, I think he loved them as the season tickets he had proved. "Star Trek Voyager" was often a topic as well as many other things. I worked graveyard for a number of years. The city had gotten us Nextel cellular phones with the direct connect feature. Well, he had gotten one too. There was more than one night that he kept me awake and made the long shift pass a lot faster by yacking with me on the Nextel. He seemed to just be there when you needed him to be. Amazingly, having it pointed out to me how big of a "shroomer" I was got to be a lot of fun.

Another thing I liked about Glenn was how much he loved his wife and Kids. Glenn was always talking about the things Tammy and the girls were up to. You see, my wife's name is Tammy and we raised 3 girls too. I really enjoyed talking about the families' activities with him.

His love for God and country impressed me as well. He served his country for a number of years in the Air Force as a canine handler. This experience and the desire to make a good life for his family eventually led him to his career in the California Department of Corrections keeping watch over the walking talking human sewage we have to keep locked up away from normal people. Not a pleasant job to be sure. I have a lot of respect for the men and women who keep these morons under lock and key. At least in my line of work the turds don't shoot at me or talk trash.

Along with others, he made up the Yucaipa Valley Amateur Radio Club, a group of Amateur radio enthusiasts like myself. At a time when the club could easily have ceased to exist, he stepped up as President. The club was resurrected from the dead with his able leadership and has become something to be proud of. He currently was what he liked to call "Membership Director," a role that he relished and was quite good at.

When Phil, our current club president called to tell me Glenn had become Silent Key it was as if someone knocked my legs out from under me. I was in total shock. I figured since I was older Glenn would attend my funeral, not vice-versa. Things like this aren't supposed to happen. Sadly though, they do. The rest of us are left to continue on and hold memories of the good times we've had together close to our hearts. I will pray for Glenn's wife and kids and never miss an opportunity to say hello to someone I know again. You just don't know when the ability to do so will be wrenched away. The "Perfesser" as I loved to call him has left a big hole in my heart. Perfesser, this isn't goodbye but only a see you later since I'll get to see you soon in the "Hamshack in the Sky."

I will miss Glenn but I will carry on as he would want. I'll keep on trying for that next DX contact on HF. I'll try to be there for others on the local repeater thereby giving tribute to Glenn Montenero, KJ6QB/SK.

Until next time,

A subdued ARRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties.....

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!!

Fall Fly Fishing Fling

2008-09-28T05:05:00.000-07:00

Last week was my annual fly fishing trip with 3 friends. I started this trip maybe 12 years ago with a friend Scott. Along the way, we added Arnold and Dave who have made the trips very enjoyable. We started out fishing only in Mammoth Lakes since I knew the water there. Scott Dave and Arnie have all fished from Clearwater Lodge a lot more than I have. So, on my 50th birthday we went to Clearwater. This time was for Dave's 50th birthday. In 2 years we'll go for Scott's 50th birthday. I guess we'll have to find a good reason to for for Arnie... maybe when he retires? We all flew out of Ontario on Southwest Airlines on Sunday and came back Thursday. We stayed at Clearwater Lodge near Fall River Mills, which is about 55 or so miles southeast of Mt. Shasta. Interestingly, the Lodge is located on the near the Pit River. Also within striking distance of the Lodge are Hat Creek, Fall River and Mcloud River some of the west's best blue ribbon waters. Arnie and I fished the Fall River all 3 days with our guide, Dax. The fishing was epic on the Fall. Dax who has been guiding there for 10 years said it was the best 3 days of fishing he's ever seen on the Fall River. Large trout were slurping up PMD's, Callibaetis and another microscopic mayfly we couold not imitate. Below is my smiling mug with my best fish, a 20" Rainbow and some other photos from the trip. If you'd like to see all of them, email me and I'll send you a link to the album.

my 20" rainbow tasken on a dry

one of the most photographed barns on the river

another respectable rainbow taken on a nymph

some of the prettier scenery on the river

Mt. Shasta

The food at the lodge was outstanding, the staff was courteous and the rooms comfortable. The guides are a lot of fun especially when an "experienced" angler as myself go fishing with them. To describe my first couple of casts as substandard is putting it mildly. Dax said on the first one "That's not your best work." Then on the second one "That was apalling!" Arnie had a two fish thing going almost the whole trip. He'd catch or get hit by 2 fish then nothing for awhile. The ribbing back and forth with Dax and Arnie was good natured and fun. I don't have any idea how many flies I broke off. After fishing around here most of my life, I don't have much experience playing large trout. Keep the rod tip up is the best advice going. The 6x tippet may just have a chance to stay together, ya know? Scott fell into the Pit River from Andrew's (his and Dave's guide) drift boat. Falling into the Pit River is real easy to do if you're wading it but out of the boat? I guess he got excited about the fish he hooked. We all caught some real nice and very beautiful trout on the trip. The one day we had a pool, Scott won with a 20" fish from the Fall. I guess I should have gotten one going the other 2 days...LOL. Well, I'll conclude this by saying that I ALWAYS look forward to another fishing trip with the guys and in 2 years for Scott's birthday is no exception.

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!

Headlines from the weekend

2008-09-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was kind of interesting. Alicia and Mike as you may know live in Webster Texas, very near Houston and not far at all from Galveston. Why is it interesting you may ask? Well, a little tropical cyclone named Ike blew through on Saturday. Fortunately, they were not there. Their home was in the storm surge zone believe it or not. The apartment is on the second floor and the management boarded the windows up in preparation. They along with their dog Isabel in tow, smartly evacuated beforehand to San Antonio. As I write this, they're trying to make it home. I guess cell phone coverage is OK at least in parts of Houston, so we'll see if I hear anything from them. Hopefully, their arrival will find all is well sans electricity and maybe even water. They stocked up on canned goods before the storm and before they left San Antonio.

Last week, Tammy was gone to a training course for her work. She says it was well worthwhile so, hopefully she'll see the full benefit from it in the very near future. I was able to bachelor it successfully for the week although, I did miss her a lot. The reunion, on Friday night was great. I had to work a double the night she came home so we really didn't get to talk to each other until Saturday evening when I came home from work.

Work is still very stressful but it has calmed down a little bit. My immediate supervisor has been very paranoid lately and thinks they're out to get him. His stress level telegraphs right down the food chain to yours truly. Although given the way the city has treated it's management level employees lately, he may be justified in at least a part of the paranoid tendencies. So, I keep plodding along trying to keep him from popping a blood vessel all the while getting really run down and very much looking forward to my yearly fall fly fishing fling next week. Plane tickets were bought a few months ago, reservations have been made, I bought a rolling duffel bag and a new fly rod. The rod is a 4 piece 5 weight St. Croix Avid series. I was ready to go about 6 months ago but could not. Oh well, that's another story.

I did get to go fishing on Tuesday with my Dad, that was a lot of fun. I managed to catch a very nice 16" rainbow trout from a particularly difficult spot. A 16" trout is a very unusual fish in the Santa Ana. Yes, it was a planter but the fish had all it's fins and was in full fall regalia. Suffice it to say it was a very nice catch. It was also very satisfying... Seeing my Dad out there with pole in hand and hiking around the creek brought back some of my most treasured childhood memories of days spent afield with him. We shared many a day by the creek catching and not catching any trout while he passed on his love of fishing to me. He's getting up there in age and his ability to get around is diminishing as the years have taken their toll on his knees and other body parts. I will look forward to the next time we can spend some time on the creek with great anticipation.

Until next time, I am humbly yours,
Fred

ARRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Dog Days of August

2008-09-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a week or so since my last post so I figured I'd put something on the blog... It's been really hot here lately. 100+ degrees almost every day. Both Tammy and I are ready for winter to begin.

I'm sitting here in my PJ shorts watching Stargate Atlantis typing away. Tammy is gone for the week taking a training course in Costa Mesa. She's hoping to pass her series 7 test for work. (A broker kinda thing.) I'm remembering now what I liked about being a bachelor and what I didn't like about it as well. Believe me, the advantages of being married far outweigh the negative aspects. At any rate, Melissa is in Texas and I'm baby sitting her cat and her dog. The dog is OK but, as most of you know I don't like cats very much.

I went to the doctor for my yearly physical today. All my numbers are better. In the last 6 months, I lost 7 pounds. Slow like molasses in January. I guess the slower it goes, the more likely I'll be to keep it off. That's a very good thing... My good cholesterol has come up, the bad has gone down some more and the tryglycerides are lower too. Very encouaging for me. The bad news: I haven't been on the bike for over a week now. Melissa came to visit before she went to Texas and I had to put it outside. In the heat. So needless to say, my butt didn't hit the seat. Oh well, it's lame but it's my only excuse LOL.

Work has been unbelievable recently. The Public Works director fired our plant manager... a decent guy. And put her hatchet man in his place. From the sound of it his job was going to be down-sized and she needed a place to put him. Nice, eh? Such is the rotten organization I work for.

I'm really looking forward to this year's fall flyfishing fling. I'm heading up to Clearwater Lodge on the Pit River in Northern CA. Beautiful place, good food and lots of hungry trout. My best one last time we went there was a 20" brown out of the McCloud River. There are 4 of us that make a fall trek each year. we've been doing it now for probably 10 years. It's one of the things I really look forward to every year. Somehow, getting out in the wild, getting in touch with the inner primal man is invigorating and gets my mind set in the right place for the coming year. I've ordered a new rod for the trip, a 9' 5 weight 4 piece St. Croix Avid. This one will be easier to pack than my other 2 piece rods. Scott, one of the guys I go with, and I picked out some wine from BevMo to ship up to the lodge to help keep everything lubricated. Good times ahead for this fly fisher.

Stargate Atlantis is over, so I'll watch some repeats of Hogan's Heroes then off to bed. I need my rest for tomorrow. Going to go fish a little bit with my Dad. Should be fun.

Until next time.....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

A Silly Video

2008-08-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different, a silly video...

Second and better version...

Pretty fun stuff eh? Well a week into the bike trainer and I've been on it 4 times. Tammy made me move it outside to keep the visiting grandbaby from sticking her fingers in the chain etc... My butt still get's sore but yesterday, I wore a pair of bike shorts. You know the ones that have a diaper built in for padding? That helped elminate some of the pain. That will help keep me riding it. Anyway.....

Until Next Time.....

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!!!

Something Old, Something New

2008-08-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

I Promised to post a funny bear story for your perusal a few weeks ago. Well, here it is, "Something Old"

Now here’s the funny story I promised. As all of you know, we enjoy camping quite a lot. We started out with a tent, graduated to a camper shell, moved on to a tent trailer and finally, a fifth wheel trailer. One of our favorite areas to camp is Mammoth Lakes. The rugged natural beauty of the area keeps us going back. There’s a rumor going around that I go only for the fishing… but that’s another story. I dutifully try to buy good camping equipment that will last for a while. Early in our camping experiences, I purchased a camping cook kit. Kind of a glorified mess kit actually. I was proud of that thing, such a wonder to cram all that stuff into such a small package. When the kids were a lot younger and we were in the tent trailer stage, we camped in coldwater campground. The area is known to have bears occasionally. In reality, the area is the favored route the local bears use to forage in the region’s many garbage cans and dumpsters. These bears have never met an ice chest they didn’t love. For some of the more timid campers this can be quite disconcerting. The campground host’s advice is always the same. Put your food away to prevent any marauding bears from attacking your ice chest and make lots of noise when you encounter one. Well, Tammy being the somewhat seasoned camper she was took the noise advice literally. She passed out pans, tin plates and spoons to bang on them with to the kids. Her weapon of choice was the lid / frying pan off my prized camping cook kit. While we were enjoying the after dinner campfire a rather young bear wandered as they often do between our campsite and the one behind us. I’ve often observed this behavior in bears that have a regular round of dumpsters and campgrounds. I pointed and said “hey, look at the…” Before I could say, “bear,” the fire circle erupted into a cacophony of ringing pans, clanging aluminum skillets and a frenzy of ear piercing screeches. Before I could stand up, the fire circle was devoid of female humanity in any form as they all piled into the trailer with a screeching racket to seek refuge from the bear.
The dust was still rising as the bear stood up, looked at us and decided he’d better get the heck out of Dodge. As the ear-splitting din subsided, I turned to see what had caused the ringing in my ears and had sent my nerves somewhere near Pluto. My ears were numb with the after effects of an atomic blast to my eardrums. I’m sure there were news reports of a frothing bear that was not seen but only heard, as the sound barrier was broken for the first time by a young bruin. The report would have surely concluded with the sighting of a bear crumpled up in a sobbing heap near some tree that he collided with as he’d recklessly sought a safe passage out of the county. I was positive that we’d be excommunicated from the forest for cruelty to adolescent bears. I still hear rumors of a bear in the Inyo National Forest that begins to suck his thumb and tremble uncontrollably at the mere whisper of metal being beaten with a feather. Tammy was quite elated that the bear had left as she nervously clutched the camping cook kit’s lid / frying pan in one hand and a big wooden spoon with the other. As I walked over to the trailer to calm things down a little, I observed the real victim in the melee’. Alas, dear camping cook kit’s lid / frying pan we barely knew ye. My camping cook kit’s lid / frying pan will never be the same. It began the trip as a well-used but straight and serviceable piece of camping equipment. It is now a mere whisper of it's former self. It can only be used as a handicapped version of it’s serviceable shape before the unprovoked attack. We loved that camping cook kit’s lid / frying pan. I bought it from a camping outlet when I was employed at Forest Home probably 10 years before. While it will forever bear the dents and twisting of metallurgic genocide, it is forever a memorial, nay a magnificent testament to the many fun camping trips we've had.

Now for "Something New"

I have noticed my girlish figure expanding over the last 30 or so years and have decided to try to do something about it... again. I purchased a bicycle trainer. For those who are uninitiated in the cycling world, this is a device that you can attach your existing bicycle to that allows you to ride to your heart's content or detriment as the case may be in a stationary position. That is, indoors in the air conditioned comfort of my home. I can watch old reruns of "Hogan's Heroes" while I hopefully pedal my way to a slimmer healthier more beautiful me. Well maybe not beautiful but if I'm going to dream lets dream BIG OK? Look out Adonis! So far the only disadvantage I see is the pain in my posterior from the lack of riding the last year or two. Yes, the old glutes are out of shape along with the substantial dunlops investment over-hanging my belt. Stay tuned for the blow by blow excitement of "Pedals for Brother Fred" or "How to Make a Peeping Tom Throw Up."

My favorite Olympic moment so far: When our relay team clobbered the frenchies in the 400 meter freestyle swim to take the gold. Go ahead and talk your smack frenchie...

Until next time...

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Fun Stuff

2008-08-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed a feat of Amateur Radio par excellence. I usually wake up pretty early even on my days off. Yesterday was no exception as I awoke at 05:00. As my habit is, I came in the shack and turned on the radios and booted up the computer. I was kind of playing around not really paying attention on 40 meters. That is, 7.035 MHz for those that don't know anything about radio. Forty meters is one of the longer wavelengths and can at time perform exceptionally well in the evenings, nighttime and other low sunlight conditions. I use a computer soundcard interface to work digital modes a lot. I was looking at an RTTY, Radio Teletype or Teletype signal on the waterfall. Jargon Alert, waterfall is a display that slowly scrolls down the screen like a waterfall. I put the cursor on this signal adjusted it to the correct parameters and found it was a special event station. BT1ON, the 2008 Beijing Olympics Special Event Station! Wow! I tried probably a dozen times before they actually heard me and we made a contact. My first ever mainland red Chinese contact. To put this into perspective, we are in the middle of the lowest point on the 11 year solar cycle. Jargon alert, the solar cycle is the engine that drives everything in radio. It is the number of sunspots that appear on the sun's surface. More sunspots, better radio propagation, fewer sunspots less propagation. We've been in the middle of a long period now with very little or absolutely no sunspots. So you can see how it's exciting to get a once-in-a-lifetime contact. Boy, was I stoked. I couldn't wait to tell Tammy then my radio buddies about the accomplishment.

As often happens in my life, I have a negative event occur on the heels of a positive one. I was leaving to have coffee with my radio friends and tell them of my success on 40 meters. I walked out of the house promptly stepped in a hole in the driveway, twisted my ankle, fell down, scraped a 3 inch patch of skin off my left knee and writhed in pain for a half hour. Now I have a weak left ankle. It has the elasticity of a piece of worn out rubber. I have sprained it many times. This time it was the right ankle and guess what? Yep, I scraped the flesh off my left knee. It couldn't be the same leg of course, now I'm hobbling around like an old cowpoke. Fun... NOT! Now I'm discovering another old guy thing. I wonder if anyone has made a study of how age directly correlates to how quickly we heal? Or how age directly correlates to how many body parts are injured in an accident like this? Somebody could surely put something together. Then we could be more careful... Well, not really. I usually have my mind on other things. Another old guy thing... my concentration is going back to where it was when I was about 5 years old! Oh well, I'm not experiencing anything that my forefathers haven't. I guess I'll just keep on keeping on as Churchill said.

Anyone recognize these photos?

They sure are cute, too bad they grow up. I scanned these from some slides I took a long time ago. Thanks to the kids for the slide scanner for Father's Day. I'll post some more at a later date. Believe me, there are a lot of them. Maybe now we can all see them. These were all taken when I was learning how to use a 35 mm totally manual camera. A Pentax K1000. What a great camera that was. Sara has it now, I hope she uses it some.

Until next time,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearties!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!

Flashback

2008-07-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

I imagine we've all had days when we wished we were someplace else. You know, a familiar song will give you a flashback or a day dream will transport you to a place where you had a much more pleasant time than the one you are experiencing. No, I don't mean a chemically induced flashback either. I'm talking about when your mind goes into self-protect mode to either avoid choking the stuffing out of someone or to avoid a total meltdown. I think a healthy mind will transport you to that perfect moment in time, a welcome, gratifying, pleasant respite from the insufferable circumstance we're involved in.

I've been experiencing this more and more lately. This week in particular while doing battle with some abhorrent drivers on the local freeways along with 20,000 of my closest friends, I was taken back by a song on the CD to more pleasant memories of vacations spent with the family. We spent a lot of time in the Mammoth Lakes region of California. While I sometimes wish we'd explored a few other places, Mammoth Lakes will always hold a special place in my heart. It has everything I desired in a vacation spot. Mountains, lakes, rivers, streams, trees, wildlife, wildflowers, fishing, fishing and more fishing. I guess you could say I have it bad; Fishing pox that is. There are also high class resorts, nice restaurants, and for those who just can't leave civilization behind no matter what, shopping and Starbucks. It also has many beautiful vistas, a National Park (Yosemite), a National Monument (Devil's Post Pile) and for the occasional Tim Allen-ish mishaps, a good hospital.

We started out camping with a borrowed tent trailer. After a couple of years, we were able to buy a very used tent trailer. Mom & Dad got the tent trailer, the girls got to "room" in the 10x14 canvas tent. I never will forget some of the night time thunderstorms we were enraptured by. Of course the youngest of our party was not enraptured. She was scared to death. Oh what fun we had camping in that trailer at Twin Lakes and Cold Water campgrounds. We moved up to the fifth wheel trailer, which is palatial compared to the tent trailer and tent we had. Now it seems our taste has moved into the condo stage. I don't know how often we'll be able to go anymore but, I still look forward to every trip. We had many a hike with the kids, some fishing, a multitude of wonderful memories and photographs of God's beautiful creation. There was even the "Great Bear Scare" at Cold Water. Maybe I'll write about that in the future, it's worthy of a post all by itself.

I will share this bear story with you. I remember a big old bear the locals had named Hemorrhoid. The moniker given to him was a very accurate description of the Bear's abilities and demeanor. There wasn't a car, ice chest, dumpster or walk-in reefer made that Hemorrhoid couldn't break into. Hemorrhoid was a big old cinnamon colored black bear with a nonchalance air that would rival Tex Avery's Droopy. He resembled the bear in the "Great Outdoors" only he wasn't bald on top or on the bottom. I was float tubing middle Twin when I heard a lot of noise from shore. People yelling, pots banging around and such. A few minutes later I saw Hemorrhoid lumbering off towards the northern shore licking his chops of some unknown delicacy. I later discovered it was probably potato chips. When I got out of the lake, I found out which campsite had been raided. Some idiot campers had left their huge ice chest out with the rest of their food sitting on the picnic table while they strolled leisurely around the campground. As they came around a bend in the road heading back to their idyllic campsite, they saw good old Hemorrhoid. The accidental discovery of good old Hemorrhoid enjoying a feast of epic proportions at their expense was almost more than they could ahem, pun intended, bear. Hence the hysterical yelling and raucous noise of pots and pans being murdered by their owners. I couldn't help chiding them a little. The signs are all over the place about the bears. Some people just think it never does apply to them. They're what we call "special." Oh well, 300 bucks later to replace the ice chest and the cost of the food I guess they learned that the signs are there for the "special" people too.

I hope our girls have some wonderful memories of camping in Mammoth. I know Tammy and I sure do. I would not trade the days spent in that pursuit for anything. All the bug bites, scrapes, sunburn, sprained ankles, automotive failures, floods and old age won't keep me away from a place I love. My point is this gentle readers, love your family enough to give a little. There will be another day for sports, TV, work, or the computer. Make the memories while you can. Photograph them, experience them to the fullest, treasure them with all your heart. Then you will have something to day dream about when you're a California freeway commuting victim. When the boss is yammering about how you did a good job but (insert some inane statement here) you'll have that precious picture in your mind's eye. Otherwise, the days will slip by into the oblivion of day-to-day existence and what could have been will never be. And that is a tragedy of the highest order.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Until next time,
Fred

OLD GUYS RULE!

Cold front this weekend

2008-07-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I got it. A real snot slinger too. As soon as I started feeling like it was coming on, I started eating Zicam like it was candy. You know, the stuff that lessens the intensity and shortens the duration? Well guess what? That was wishful thinking on my part. It hit me just as hard and it's hanging on just as long. So much for the wonder drug. I think Tammy gave it to me but, I didn't wait over a week to seek out a medical professional's help though. They put me on augmentin and Zyrtec (which I can't take at work because it can make me drowsy. I don't need any help feeling drowsy thank you very much. I do just fine all on my own. Another Old Guy thing I guess. Boy a nap sure would be nice right now...

The results from my poll last time left more questions... Two of you want to be named as a beneficiary in case my demise by motorcycle is premature. OK, fiancial gain at my expense is Ok. There was one that was a definite no. I guess I'll forget about it for now. Thanks for the comment Peter.

Melissa Peter and Baby Sarah are visiting this weekend. Peter's post surgery check-up is on Tuesday so they decided to come for the weekend. That's OK, we get some more time to play with the baby. I swear, that kid will think my head has a camera and flash permanently attached to my head.

Alicia told us definatively yesterday that she miscarried. We're all sad but thankful there were no medical complications due to the short term pregnancy. Mike and Alicia are doing good, the foregoing pregnancy- related activities just a part of life's marvelous tapestry.

Sara's young man, Matt visited yesterday and I was able to spend a little time with him last night before retiring to my bed. He seems like a very nice young man. He's interested in Ham radio too but for his father who recently retired. I guess they're looking for an activity that will keep him away from the office.

I watched the All-Star game this week. I was pleased to see the AL finally win it in extra innings. I was beginning to wonder if they'd send out the bat boys to pitch. Who knows, it might have been fun to watch.

Some of you may know that I have the very special blessing of a Christian boss. We've been meeting on a regular basis to read some scriptures and pray together. This week we've been working our way through I Corinthians. I Corinthians 10: 31- "So whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God." It strikes me how so much can be boiled down to in this simple statement. If we all ask ourselves BEFORE we do something if this activity or what we're about to say will really glorify God, things would probably be a lot different in this world. Colossians 3:17- And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving giving thanks to God the Father through him. I think it behooves us all to keep these in mind this week.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR me Hearties!!!!!

OLD GUYS RULE!!!

Growing Older?

2008-07-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

First off, let me say this... Old Guys Rule!

I woke up early again this morning... Darn cold makes it tough to breathe and or sleep. I think most of you will appreciate this:

From the NO DUH! file: Apparently scientists from ABC Science Online have just discovered something: Smaller Families Face Higher Extinction Risk. Come on fellas, you don't need a degree to figure that one out... Unless you're a rabbit.

I've seen a number of humorous emails going around lately with humorous one liners. Things like "Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician." Or "Life not only begins at 40, it begins to show." Here's a website with a bunch of them: Slightly Senior Moments.

There are also some pretty funny comparison type jokes going around like "Then: Getting out to a new, hip joint. Now: Getting a new hip joint." As you can see from a previous post, I can particularly relate to this one..."Then: Acid Rock. Now: Acid Reflux." More Here

As I grow older I'm finding out more and more things about the aging process. (NO DUH!) Now I'm beginning to understand what my grandma meant when she said "It's hell getting old Freddy!" Maybe it's all just a sign of the times... I understand a lot of us baby boomers will be retiring in the next 10-15 years. I can honestly say, any smart person will make a fortune on us with a medical geriatics practice. But not to worry, unless you don't plan.

Tammy brought up an interesting idea last week. If the price of fuel keeps going up, maybe I should learn how to ride a motorcycle and purchase one for commuting. I don't know if I like the idea yet but, I'm open to give it a whirl. I have several friends that ride so getting input from them is helpful. What do you think? Take the poll and leave a comment if you have any ideas.

Until next time,

OLD GUYS RULE!

A Bittersweet Weekend

2008-07-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks for voting in the poll. It seems the 5 people that voted want me to keep doing this. So, I will endeavor to keep it up.

This weekend was a whirlwind affair. On Independence day I was at work which was by all measures a tough day. We had a main fuse blow on one leg of one of the 12 KV lines that feed the plant. Not only did a small fire ignite, but the ensuing havoc of blown fuses and tripped equipment took its toll. If you know anything about electricity, (Mike the EE...) you know that when equipment with 3 phase motors tries to run on 2 phases, bad will things happen. The smoke is still clearing and we're still trying to recover. Thankfully Saturday was a little smoother but, Tammy came down with a cold or sinusitis I guess the Dr. eventually called it.

With my sick wife in tow and Sara, we left for Port Hueneme on Sunday morning to see our grad daughter dedicated to the Lord. Now this is not a baptism or christening, but a service where the grandparents, parents and congregation vow to do whatever it takes to raise the child in a Christ-like way. Something I take very seriously of course. What a joy to see all the support Melissa and Peter have.

We joined Peter's Mom & Dad and had a lovely Sunday afternoon dinner at Melissa and Peter's home. We all left Port Hueneme about 5 or 6 PM I think, and headed to San Diego to the Navy Lodge to spend the next couple of days. Peter had pre-op on Monday and Surgery on Tuesday to remove a growth in his knee. While he was at pre-op, we joined his folks for a morning at the beach on Coronado Island and spent the afternoon touring the carrier Midway. I heartily suggest that ANYONE who enjoys the freedoms paid for by the blood of US Military Service people should make the time to visit the Midway. It was not only a fun experience, but a moving one as well. I really enjoyed the radio room for obvious reasons. B-D can you say CQ CQ CQ?

Tuesday we spent hanging around mostly with Melissa, Sarah Rose and Auntie Sara Beth. We were able to visit some with Tammy's Mom and Joe while we we there. It's been a long time since we visited their home. With the advent of grand children and married children, our priorities naturally had to shift. It was very nice of Ma Dee and joe to watch Tirzah for Melissa and Peter.

We enjoyed visiting with Peter's Mom & Dad even though I was able to get all of us lost a couple of times while driving around the Naval Base area. The streets in that part of San Diego/ National City are very confusing to a country bumpkin like me. But we still, we managed to find our way around.

Peter's surgery went well I'm told although, he's suffering a little nausea from the experience. Melissa had the same cold that Tammy has and I think I'm coming down with it now. Whew... what a weekend. I hope I can get to work so I can relax some. Just kidding!

We had some bad news this weekend, we're pretty sure Alicia lost her child. I spoke with her yesterday, both her and Mike are doing OK. I'm saddened at the loss but, God has His purposes in life and all we can do is trust Him. Mike is doing a great job supporting Alicia through this trial all the while suffering with his own nasty cold. Thanks Mike for taking care of one of my girls.

I will post some pictures from this weekend on Shutterfly when I get time.

Until next time,
Fred

OLD GUYS RULE!

The Magic of GERD or, How to stay awake all night without even trying

2008-07-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last night I experienced what a lot of us old guys call GERD or GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease. It's heartburn for the layman in all of us. My Doctor tells me the cause of such a painful disorder is due to my weight, diet and age. Fun. another Old Guy thing to muse about.

For those of you who don't suffer from this malady, I 'splain it to you Lucy... (As Ricky would say.) It's characterized by a painful burning sensation in your chest that generally is accompanied by violent coughing fits (which can fracture ribs in extreme cases,) and a foul acid like taste in your mouth. Fun. After you cough your fool head off for 30 minutes or so, you are left with the aftermath... sore chest and stomach muscles, clogged sinuses and that awful taste. Fun.

The treatment is this- lose weight you Old Guy. Take this pill, currently Prilosec, elevate the head of your bed, stay way from spicy foods... Another Old Guy thing to muse about and wear loose clothing. When I have an attack, I eat Gaviscon and drink ice water. The ice water soothes the burning quite a bit. The Gaviscon kind of makes this gooey chalky lump that's supposed to plug the hole so no acid comes back up. You see, the acid from the stomach seeps past the epiglottis to do it's dirty work all the way up the pipe. Fun.

If you have these symptoms, please consult with your Doctor and get treated. Next time I see mine, we're going to talk about it again.

Here are a few links if you want some more information about GERD:

gerd.com
Wikki
WebMD

Now on to a lighter subject, we've been enjoying watching reruns of Northern Exposure lately on KVCR. The show is set in a small imaginary town called Cicely Alaska. While sometimes the subjects they cover delve into the prurient desires of a fallen world, last night's episode was really funny. It dealt mostly with a hunting trip that Chris, Joel and Holling took. You'll have to watch it to see who they are. Let's just say that Joel was opposed to killing any animal at all while Chris was not and neither was Holling who by the way only photographs the animals. A different kind of hunting... more my speed. Joel ends up really getting into the whole hunt ritual. ANd ends up shooting a smallish grouse. He totally freaks out when he just wings it then refuses to end the bird's suffereing by ringing it's neck. He takes the bird back to his office, he's the town's doctor and attempts unsuccessfuly to save it's life. They ended up eating the bird at a brithday celibration for Ruth Anne who is the store keeper. There Joel dicovers how good grouse tastes with wild rice. They did a pretty fair job diving into the controversial topic of animal rights, a human's base needs of the hunt and the emotions involved. Tammy, Sara & I really enjoyed it. I guess it gives us a little slice of small town life that I sorely miss.

History of the show

Old Guys Rule?

Wow

2008-07-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm totally new to this so I hope it's more exciting than watching paint dry or grass grow. Hopefully, my family and friends will find this entertaining and keep up with what's going on in the ever-changing world of of an Old Guy like me.

Several years ago, I decided at the prompting of a close friend to get into the Amateur Radio Service. Jargon alert- this is Ham Radio NOT CB. Unlike the usual foul mouthed- rude jerks that inhabit the CB airwaves, most Hams are pretty decent folks.

Last Saturday was ARRL's field day. Jargon alert- ARRL is the American Radio Relay League. It's a 24 hour event with thousands of radio enthusiasts try to make as many different radio contacts as possible. (Peter would like this) Most clubs put on something special, for it's a great time to give people information about what Amateur Radio is, how to get licensed and a chance to GOTA. Jargon alert- Get On The Air. I'm a member of YVARC. Jargon alert- Yucaipa Valley Amateur Radio Club. Our event was somewhat less enthusiastic than in previous years but it was still fun.

Flyfishing has been on hold the last few weeks since my favorite lake was inundated with Girl Scouts seeking repose from day-to-day life with a day at the beach. Having fathered 3 girls myself, I decided to find a quieter use of my time.

My photography has taken an upswing with the purchase of a new computer and Adobe CS 3 for editing purposes. My children are even giving me a film and slide scanner for Father's Day. What a great family I have.

Melissa and Peter are doing well, baby Sarah Rose, my first grandchild, is growing like a weed. I call her the Michelin Baby. Very Cute indeed...

Alicia and Mike surprised us with some good news this weekend, she may and I emphasize may be expecting a child. A home pregnancy kit tested positive. So we may have a new grandbaby in the oven! Very exciting...

Sara was away seeing her bow Sunday and Monday. A much needed rest period as well I believe. She's been working very hard with her grandpa doing "yard" clean-up around the Angelus Oaks community. Raking leaves and pine needles, picking up brush... that sort of thing.

Tammy is awesome... She continues to surprise me with her depth of love for her family. She corraled Sara long enough to go to Melissa's house in Port Hueneme long enough to return their pets and help Melissa clean their house for the upcoming in-law visit.

This is for Peter- ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Me Hearty!

Old Guys Rule!